It is rare to find a lake that produces both trophy size Northern Pike and Muskie, especially when a Muskie has the advantage of growing much faster than a Northern Pike. Dinorwic Lake is a large lake and exhibits a diverse structure. As a result, perfect conditions for both Northern Pike and Muskie exist. The average size Northern Pike in Dinorwic Lake is much smaller than our Muskie but compared to many lakes, our Northern Pike are above average.

Northern Pike in Dinorwic Lake tend to concentrate at the mouth of narrows, mouths of streams, around islands and rocky shoals as well as rocky points that are leading into weedy bays. You will also find them in the thick weeds but generally, the larger Northern Pike stay out of the weeds unless they are feeding on smaller Pike. This is not always true. Some parts of the year the big trophy Northern Pike hide in the thick weeds and stay just under the surface sunning themselves. These Northern Pike are sometimes referred to as Grass Pike and take on a tanned brown color.

The large Trophy Northern Pike prefer to dine on Walleyes, which is their most abundant food source. Where you find Walleyes, you will find Pike. This is not always true. Pike and Muskie like to keep their distance from each other so an area with lots of Walleyes will usually have either Pike or Muskie patrolling the outside of the Walleyes but not usually both.

Northern Pike are also very aggressive in Dinorwic Lake and easy to catch. The stained Walleye Wine color of Dinorwic Lake's water may even make the Pike a little braver than they should be. If you look at our Pike photo gallery, you will see most of our Pike have battle scars from fighting with other Pike and Muskie. It appears some of them have taken on another fish that were too big and destine to win any battle.

Northern Pike hit just about any lure. The tradition lure of most Pike Hunters is the red-&-silver Daredevil or the yellow 5-of-diamonds Daredevil. A growing trend in Pike fishing is fly-fishing. When fly-fishing for Northern Pike, you can drop a fly right in the middle of openings in the thick weeds, which are not practical places to cast a lure. Barry Reynolds Pike Bunny, Rabbit Strip Pike Bunny and the Mcmurderer Fly are the favorite Pike Flies used by our guests. Top water lures such as Spooks, Jack Pots and Creepy Crawlers are the most exciting because the Northern Pike make a big splash when they hit the surface.

Northern Pike in Dinorwic Lake are common in the 3 to 10-pound range. Throughout the summer, guests do catch Northern Pike that are much bigger. A 20-pound Northern Pike is usually around 41 to 43 inches. This depends on how fat the fish is but regardless of girth, a Northern Pike over 40 inches is a trophy. Guests do catch a fair amount of Northern Pike in this size range and on many occasions, much bigger Northern Pike are caught. Each year there are reports of Northern Pike being caught that are over 45 inches but unfortunately we only receive pictures of a small percentage of the fish caught and only have a few pictures of really big Pike in that size range. Dinorwic Lake is one of the better drive-to Northern Pike lakes in Ontario.

The smaller Northern Pike out of Dinorwic Lake taste great. It may be from the minerals in the water and the fact that their main food is Walleye. Pike in Dinorwic Lake, when eaten fresh, taste very similar to Walleye and cook up fluffy and white. Northern Pike are known as a fish that taste much better fresh so we invite you try our Pike at shore lunch. If you don't know how to clean them, please watch our How to Clean Northern Pike video.

Times have changed. Everybody releases big Northern Pike these days. Catch-&-release is more important to the Northern Pike population because they are a slow growing fish. A 45-inch Northern Pike can be over 30 years old while a 45-inch Muskie is only 10 years old. That is why all big Pike need to be handled with care and released quickly. Because of proper Pike care, the Northern Pike fishing in Dinorwic Lake gets better and better every year. This magnificent resource must be conserved. If you like to eat Pike, do not worry; there are lots of 3 and 4-pound Northern Pike that are just right for the frying pan.